But what about all the others who have grown up, worked or lived in Iowa but have since left the state?

"The famous people are the ones you hear about … but, what I'm really interested in are the people that aren't famous. The folks that have the cupcake shop in Brooklyn that are from Dubuque," said Geoff Wood, the founder of Des Moines coworking space Gravitate.

Wood is one of four Iowans who have started The Iowan Project, aimed at highlighting the accomplishments of Iowans who have left the state.

"Everyone talks about brain drain and people leaving us," said Brian Waller, president of the Technology Association of Iowa. "We saw it as flipping that around and (looking at) what impact Iowa has had on the world."

Housed at www.iowanproject.com, the site is "a mapped database of where all the Iowa expats have gone," Waller said.

The idea is to create a worldwide connection for Iowans — almost like an exclusive club, Draper said. While it's starting as a database, the four said they want it to open doors for Iowans, whether an entrepreneur is seeking connections or the state is looking to get a foot in the door of a company.

"It's going to almost really make the world flat in terms of where are Iowans," Durham said.

The Iowan Project will officially launch Sunday at South by Southwest during the Iowa Hour, a party hosted by the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa startups.

Shift Interactive, a West Des Moines Web design firm, built the website.

The project is all voluntary, meaning Waller and the others won't force anyone to sign up and show they're from Iowa. To start, the four have seeded the site with members of their own networks.

"Everyone's got their oar in the water for Iowa and we (said), 'Let's put them all in the same boat,' " Waller said.

'Subtle marketing'

The project started as a thought between Waller and Wood a couple of years ago. Before moving ahead, they went to Draper — known for Raygun's cool but nontraditional promotion of the state.

"What we've learned through our time is if a message comes from the establishment, then they're not received very well," Waller said.

Next, they brought Durham on board, seeking her agency's marketing dollars and network of business contacts.

Together, the four formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and are seeking tax-exempt status. That, they said, should provide the structure so the project can last without any one of their organizations taking over control.

Waller said he serves as president, Durham as vice president, Draper as treasurer and Wood as the nonprofit's executive director.

The site isn't meant to bring Iowans back to their home state. Those kind of efforts don't work, they said.

"We've done too many initiatives that have been too government-structured. … They weren't that effective," Durham said.

Draper said the Iowan Project is a way to reach out to Iowans without sounding "desperate" for them to move back.

"More subtle marketing like this, I think there's a better chance people will listen to it," he said.